At conclusion of Jubilee Year, priest says ‘hope’ must continue to guide the faithful

Father James Brockmeier delivers a homily at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis during the Dec. 28, 2025, Mass closing the archdiocesan observance of the Jubilee Year of Hope. (Photo by Mike Krokos)

By Mike Krokos

After Pope Francis opened a Jubilee Year dedicated to hope in December of 2024, Merci McCoy began her “pilgrimage of hope” in Corpus Christi, Texas.

And it continued north through several churches in the U.S., crossed an ocean to St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican and other European churches, and landed in late December at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis, a jubilee site in the archdiocese where people could receive a plenary indulgence during the Jubilee Year of Hope.

McCoy, who is a liturgical artist, attended the archdiocese’s closing Mass of the Jubilee Year on Dec. 28, 2025 at the cathedral with her husband Scott and three lifelong friends.

“We stopped at every single [jubilee church] from Corpus Christi up to here, and also [attended] every daily Mass we could along the way,” McCoy said.

When asked how many jubilee churches they visited, her friend and pilgrimage companion Jo Zabarte of Gainesville, Fla., laughed and noted, “I lost count.”

“It was a lot,” McCoy interjected, adding it numbered in the several dozens.

Friends Alan and Cristina Dalisay of Davao, Philippines, joined the group on the pilgrimage, which included visits to jubilee churches in Avila, Spain; Fatima, Portugal; and Lourdes, France. The group also attended an audience in mid-November with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.

After the Dec. 28 liturgy, McCoy reflected on the message shared in a homily by Father James Brockmeier, the cathedral’s rector.

“I was in tears. I didn’t know it was the closing [of the Jubilee year here in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis],” she said. “And when he said it, it struck us that, ‘Wow, this is the last church that we’re going to be pilgrims of hope and able to get a [plenary] indulgence.’ ”

The Mass also marked the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

“His talk about the family, because we’re here for our family,” moved McCoy, who added, “We’re bringing them in our hearts, and we’re bringing hope to them, we’re doing this pilgrimage [for them].”

‘Making a pilgrimage … to see the cross of hope’

In his homily, Father Brockmeier reflected on opening the Jubilee Year in the archdiocese. The year, which had the theme of “Pilgrims of Hope,” began with a prayer service and a procession on Dec. 29, 2024, from the Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara Catholic Center in Indianapolis across Meridian Street to the cathedral, followed by a Mass.

At the front of that procession a year ago was the cross that led the eucharistic procession through the streets of Indianapolis during the National Eucharistic Congress in July of 2024, and it stood in front of the priest on Dec. 28 as he revisited the importance of “this cross of hope.”

“This Year of Hope has encouraged all of us to be pilgrims of hope,” Father Brockmeier said.

“As we followed behind Christ and the Eucharist during the National Eucharist Congress, we were invited in this Year of Hope to seek Jesus in the Eucharist, to find hope in our Lord Jesus Christ and his cross, as pilgrims,” the priest said.

Hope was expressed throughout the archdiocese in the past year, Father Brockmeier noted, “… in great acts of hope as well as love.”

“Day after day, people came here to the cathedral, especially to our daily Mass, as an act of pilgrimage,” he continued, “and throughout this Year of Hope, in making a pilgrimage here to the cathedral to see the cross of hope, to participate in common prayer, and in the celebration of the Eucharist, pilgrims sought an indulgence.”

Prayers for family, in hope and love, were in the heart of many who visited, the priest said.

“Each and every day, there were people who came here because they love their family. Each and every day, I would talk to someone at daily Mass who said, ‘I’m here because I want to pray for my brother, who passed this year.’ ‘I’m here because I want to gain an indulgence for my son.’ ‘I want to gain an indulgence for my mother, for my grandmother, for my husband, who has passed.’ We became pilgrims of hope, seeking that hope not only for ourselves, but out of love for others.

“So many people came here and prayed before this cross, prayed in this pilgrimage church of hope, not only because they needed hope in their own lives, but because they knew that their families and indeed the whole world was in need of hope.”

Citing the Gospel reading for the feast of the Holy Family, Father Brockmeier reflected on Joseph’s mission in leading them.

“Joseph’s hope is in the voice of God. Joseph knows that his son will not be accepted in the world,” he said.

When the angel in a dream tells him to take his family to Egypt, Joseph obeys and takes his family to a foreign land, the priest noted.

“… God has invited Joseph to take his family to Egypt and so to step out in trust, in hope, in love. In each step of this journey, he cares and loves for his family and trusts in the Lord,” Father Brockmeier said.

Like Joseph, the priest added, we are called to place our hope and our trust in the Lord.

“We all come to the Lord, not knowing the answers, not knowing the way, but knowing that we need the hope of the Lord.

“May we find in the Lord and his work, true hope for our families, and continue to find in the Lord—even as we close this Year of Hope—true hope for the world.”

‘Hope in Christ will get us through it’

David and Olga Pratt, members of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis, visited several churches around Indiana during the Jubilee Year of Hope. Their pilgrimage sites included the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad and the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Lafayette, Ind., in the Diocese of Lafayette.

The couple also attended the Dec. 28 closing Mass and felt Father Brockmeier’s message tied in well to the end of the jubilee year.

“I was struck by the inspiration … and the word ‘hope’ was there [several times in his homily],” David Pratt said. “You don’t always think that way.”

Olga Pratt appreciated how the priest tied in Jesus, Mary and Joseph’s plight to what many face today.

“As the Holy Family went through struggles, they had God with them,” Olga said. “It’s a very good example for us. The struggles come, the joys come, and the hope in Christ will get us through it.” †